Sisters
by Artemis Raven Courtney
Summary: Artemis's 'sister' Raven Roth is joining the Team! The thing is, not all sisters are related by blood. Join Raven as she struggles to fit in with her new team, and finally learns that the past is the past, and family doesn't define you. Slight crossover with Teen Titans (Will contain Spitfire and BBRae later on). Cover by TheDCuniversechick
1. Chapter 1

Sisters

It was an average day at Mount Justice.

Kaldur had just returned from visiting Tula and Garth in Atlantis, and was chatting with Raquel in the kitchen. Robin (the Team had yet to learn his real name) was on his laptop, editing some blackmail footage of the Team's resident speedster, who was making a sandwich with multiple layers of meat, cheese, vegetables, and condiments. Conner was watching his favorite TV show-static. M'gann and Zatanna were cooking dinner, chatting about whatever came to mind and using telekinesis and spells to make the cooking less time consuming. The only thing out of the ordinary was the absence of the Team's resident archer.

As a matter of fact, Artemis was in her room at the mountain, standing in front of a full length mirror and trying to decide on the perfect way to break a particular piece of news to her teammates.

'_What if they don't like her?' _Artemis thought, staring at her reflection and sighing. She'd assumed that the difficult part would be convincing the league this was a good idea. As it turned out, she also had to convince the Team (and herself). Taking a final deep breath, and deciding it was now or never, she went to the common room, hoping that everything would go as planned.

'_I can do this. They'll love her. And she'll love __**them**__.'_ With that in mind, the archer cleared her throat.

"Team, I have an announcement to make. It can't wait." Curious, the rest of the Team gathered around Artemis, a million different possible ideas to what said announcement was running through their minds, not all positive.

"We are going to have a new teammate."

"We're getting a new teammate?" Robin interrogated. "Then why didn't Batman say anything?"

"Because Robin, she's my sister. So I wanted to introduce her."

"Jade is coming **here**?" a concerned M'gann questioned.

"Not Jade. Her name is Raven. Raven Roth."

As Artemis spoke the name of the Team's newest member, a cloud of purplish-black smoke appeared next to her, swirling until a shadow could be visible in the center. When the cloud dissipated, a petite figure stood where it had once been. Contrary to Artemis's blonde hair and blue-grey eyes, Raven had the most stunning violet hair, and sparkling amethyst eyes. While Artemis had a tan complexion, Raven had a pale, ashen grey one, wrapped in a black leotard and azure blue cloak that was fastened by a red gem. Three more of these gems were on a golden belt that rested on the newcomer's waist. The Team stared in silence, observing their new teammate and taking in her unusual features.

Artemis nudged Raven, motioning for her to speak. Hesitantly, she opened her mouth, the words coming out in a monotone.

"Hello Team, I'm Raven Roth, your newest member."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, viewed and reviewed! I am planning to make this more of a season 1 fanfiction, but the events of New Year did not happen. I wanted to add Rocket/Raquel because I think that her character was under developed by the show. I will also be adding Garfield/Beast Boy later in this fanfiction, but for the moment he is still in Africa with Marie Logan.**

**Also, thanks to a guest reviewer, I realized it was not clear why I chose for Raven and Artemis to have a sisterly relationship. I felt like these two had a lot in common, since Artemis's father is Sportsmaster (a villain) and Raven's father is Trigon (also a villain, albeit more powerful than sportsmaster). Also, I noticed that when Artemis first joined the Team she was a bit of an outsider, and seemed to actually prefer it that way, which is exactly how it was for Raven when she joined the Teen Titans. Both really seemed to prefer being alone and were always very guarded (though I hope to show a more perky side to Raven, she won't always be speaking in monotone!) **

Disclaimer: I do not own young justice or Raven. They are owned by DC comics.

Previously:

_Artemis nudged Raven, motioning for her to speak. Hesitantly, she opened her mouth, the words coming out in a monotone._

"_Hello Team, I'm Raven Roth, your newest member."_

Chapter 2: A more formal introduction and a demonstration of power.

The room was filled with an awkward silence for a short period of time. No one seemed to know what exactly to say to their new violet-haired teammate. Suddenly, M'gann's eyes lit up and she gave a high-pitched, girly squeal (Conner tried very hard to ignore the pain it caused his ultra-sensitive ears so as not to upset his Martian teammate).

"Yay! We have a new teammate! Where are you going to go to school? Are you going to live in the Cave? What's your favorite color? Do you have a secret identity? What are your powers? Do you want to go shopping on Saturday?"

Raven blinked and stared at the peppy Martian for a few seconds, taken aback by the sheer amount of questions the girl asked her. When she answered, it was like the monotone she has previously spoke in, but there was a layer of what sounded like amusement underneath that only Robin (who was the protégé to _the_ Batman) and Artemis (who was Raven's _sister_) picked up on.

"In order, I was going to Gotham North before I dropped out last year, but this year the League has arranged for me to go to Happy Harbor high school. I lived with my friend, who is actually more like my brother, for the last few years, but I am going to move here in a few days. My favorite color is dark blue, and I didn't have a secret identity before, but at Happy Harbor I will have the name Rachael Roth and will use a holo-ring to change my hair and eye color and make my complexion a more natural pale color. As for my powers, they're of demonic origin and I'll demonstrate them in a second. I also know some martial arts that Artemis taught me in case my powers failed for some reason or other. Finally, thanks for the offer, but the mall isn't really my kind of place."

This, of course, raised even more questions concerning Raven's friend/brother and why she dropped out of school in the first place, but the Team decided that she would tell them when she was ready.

"Hold on a sec" Wally said, with a confused look on his face "Your name is Raven **Roth **and your sister's is Artemis **Crock**. How are you two related?"

"I was waiting for someone to ask that." Artemis said with a smirk "We're not related by blood, but I met Raven on a vacation my family took me on when I was four. We talked and realized we had a lot in common, so I gave Raven my home address and told her to stop by at any time. She did, and we've been inseparable ever since. She's become like a sister to me, just like M'gann, Zatanna, and Raquel are my sisters." Artemis explained, causing the three girls in question to give Artemis a warm smile.

"So then, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the training room and you can show us your powers!" Robin exclaimed.

As the Team walked to the training room with their newest member, M'gann couldn't help but feel curious about something else, but was worried about offending her newest teammate. She took a deep breath, and decided to just ask the question and hope Raven wouldn't take it the wrong way. Quickening her pace to catch up with Raven, who was walking with Artemis just a little bit ahead, she tapped the cloaked girl lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey Raven, I was wondering, where do you get your purple hair and eyes from? I don't think it's weird or anything, I was just curious."

Raven gave the innocent Martian a genuine smile before answering.

"It's fine; don't be so nervous about asking. Actually, I was born with it, my mother had the same hair and eyes as me, but my pale skin might have something to do with my demonic heritage. I'm not entirely sure, to be honest, the monks who raised me never told me much."

"You were raised by monks?"

"That's a story for another time. By the way, you're M'gann, right? Artemis has talked about you before. All good things don't worry."

"Hello Megan!" M'gann exclaimed, slapping her forehead. "We forgot to introduce ourselves!"

"How did we forget?" Robin wondered, stopping in front of the training room.

"It's fine. I have a mental link to Artemis, a very strong one in fact. I can see all of her memories, so I already knew who you all were, and your powers."

"That is impressive, but we should not have forgotten to introduce ourselves to you, Raven, I am Kaldur'ahm, but please call me Kaldur. I apologize for forgetting the formal introduction" Kaldur replied.

"I'm Robin, sorry about the no secret I.D thing, but Batman's orders are not whelming."

"Kid Flash, but you can call me Wally, the smartest, coolest and most handsome guy you will ever meet."

"More like the one with the biggest ego." Artemis scoffed, punching Wally's arm and causing him to glare at her.

"That hurt!"

"Quit whining, Baywatch!"

"Ignore them. They're always like that." Conner said as Artemis and Wally began to argue. "I'm Superboy, but you can call me Conner." Conner mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with having to introduce himself so formally.

"I'm M'gann M'orzz or Megan Morse if I'm at school. By the way, I go to Happy Harbor high school too! I'm a member of the bumblebees, that's the cheer squad, you should totally audition!" M'gann proclaimed happily.

"I'm not exactly cheerleader material, M'gann, but thanks for the offer." Raven replied with a small smile. "And of course, Artemis already invited me out to lunch with Zatanna and Raquel after we found out I was joining the Team, so that I'd already have met some of my teammates beforehand."

"Sorry M'gann, I would have invited you too, but you were on a date that day." Artemis explained (her argument with Wally was now finished).

"Good to see you again Raven!" Zatanna said with a smile as she and Raquel hugged their teammate.

"Alright, now that we've finished the formal introductions, what do you say to showing us your powers?" Robin asked.

Raven gave him a nod, and entered the training room, the doors opening with a hydraulic hiss. Raven exhaled deeply, and then outstretched her arms.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven cried, her eyes glowing white. As soon as the words were uttered, one of Conner's 50 ton weights was engulfed in a black aura and began to float in the air! Raven then lowered her arms, and blinked, releasing the weight and lowering it carefully and returning her eyes to their regular amethyst purple.

The rest of the Team stayed silent as she proceeded to show them several demonstrations of her powers, using streams of black aura to hit targets and lift several different sized weights. Finally, she focused her energy, violet hair flying slightly upwards and framing her hair like a halo, amethyst eyes glowing white and framed by the same black aura, a strange wind violently stirring all around her, whipping her cloak in different directions as if it were a caged animal as she filled the room with the silhouette of a bird, its wings outstretched towards the sky and the letter 'R' clutched in its talons. Without warning, it all stopped and Raven's appearance returned to what it was when the Team first met her, the only indication that she had exerted herself at all was the single bead of sweat on her forehead and the silhouette of the bird made out of black aura.

Finally, she turned to the Team "So, how did I do?"

Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was surrounded by the Team, M'gann and Zatanna were hugging her; Wally, Robin, and Kaldur were praising her; Raquel and Conner were standing next to her with impressed looks on their faces; and Artemis was smiling at her with a look of pride in her eyes.

"You were incredible, Raven." Artemis said with a smile on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks to everyone who followed favorited, viewed and reviewed! As special thanks, I've decided to update earlier than I intended. Also, just to clarify, when I said I was going to show a more perky side to Raven, I meant more along the lines of the Raven we saw in the Episode 'Spellbound', specifically the end, in which Raven is laughing and playing Stankball. I do NOT intend to make her OOC.**

Disclaimer: I don't own YJ or Raven. If I did, Season 2 of YJ would be VERY different, and Raven would have ACTUALLY MADE AN APPEARANCE IN YJ.

Previously:

_Finally, she turned to the Team "So, how did I do?"_

_Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was surrounded by the Team, M'gann and Zatanna were hugging her; Wally, Robin, and Kaldur were praising her; Raquel and Conner were standing next to her with impressed looks on their faces; and Artemis was smiling at her with a look of pride in her eyes._

_"You were incredible, Raven." Artemis said with a smile on her face._

Chapter 3: Raven's first mission and a new enemy

The Team were still surrounding Raven, congratulating her and chattering excitedly about her powers when an announcement from Batman rang out through the training room.

"Team, report to the mission computer for your new assignment. Batman out."

"Looks like you're going to get a chance to put those powers in action!" Robin exclaimed with a grin on his face.

"My first mission" Raven mumbled softly to herself.

"_Raven, don't be nervous. You've been practicing lately. I know you won't lose control."_ Artemis 'said' reassuringly through their mental link.

"_Thanks Artemis. Do you think we should have told the Team about our link?"_

"_We will Raven, but in due time."_

The Team walked to the mission computer, curios as to what the mission might hold, and found Red Tornado already there, awaiting their arrival.

"Team, Batman apologizes, but he has business to attend in Gotham and therefore cannot give you your mission in person." He informed them in his robotic voice. "He has, however, taken the liberty of sending the details of the mission to me." No one questioned how Batman's voice had rung out on the PA system, since Batman was the stealthiest person they knew.

"A very expensive and important set of robotic armor has been in its construction phase at Star Labs' headquarters for the last 2 years. It had just finished its construction last week, when a perimeter breach was set off and all armed personnel were called to greet the attacker with loaded weapons. When the guards arrived, however, there was no one there. Upon returning to their posts, the guards in charge of protecting the armor realized it was gone. The armor's construction had been ordered by the US military, and the armor itself was built out of titanium and had several weapons built in including guns, missiles, and a nuclear self-destruct in case it was captured by the enemy. It was being powered by Xenothium. Your mission is to investigate the disappearance of the armor and, if possible, apprehend the thief"

The Team stayed silent, mulling over the details before discussing them via M'gann's linking their minds.

"_What do you think, Raven?" _M'gann asked, eager to involve her teammate in the discussion.

"_Well, the perimeter breach was obviously a decoy to distract the guards so that the thief could steal the armor."_

"_Who would steal it, though?" _Wally (now in his Kid Flash costume) thought.

"_Earth to Kid idiot, that armor is a really high-tech weapon designed for military purposes! Any villain we know could have taken it." _Artemis pointed out.

"_We might be able to find some clues, but we need to go to the crime scene" _Robin said through the link, the detective gears in his brain already turning as he mentally went through a list of possible culprits, none of them seeming likely.

"M'gann, please prepare the bioship for departure" Aqualad instructed aloud.

After a 2 hour flight in the bioship, the Team reached Star City, and flew down to the Star Labs headquarters, where the head scientist of Star Labs was already waiting for them.

"Ah, you're here. I admit, I was expecting the Justice League, but I'm sure you can help us." The head scientist, Roberto Ariatez, said in a Spanish accent. Considering his faith in the Team (something others they helped on missions sometimes lacked) the Team liked him already.

"I trust no one has entered the crime scene since the robbery?" Kaldur asked.

"I have had that entire wing of the lab closed until you arrived to search for evidence. I did not call the police so as not to contaminate the crime scene." responded.

"Thank you, it is much appreciated and will help us to ensure the thief is caught."

As the Team arrived at the crime scene, they examined every surface for any obvious clues such as hair or fingerprints. After 15 minutes, of searching, Raquel noticed something in her sector of the wing (they had decided to divide the wing of the lab in which the armor was being held into different sectors and each search for clues in one. Raquel had chosen the outer chamber of the room in which the armor was being stored).

"_I've found a clue!" _She cried out excitedly through the link. _"There's grease on the security keypad in the outer chamber. It doesn't look like cooking grease though, more like it came from a vehicle."_

"_Good work Raquel! I'm on my way to your sector now." _Robin replied.

Just as Raquel was about to respond, Robin ran in to examine the strange grease, taking a sample on a slide and putting the slide in a special compartment in his glove, analyzing the results displayed on the hologram just above said glove.

"_Motorcycle oil, came from a red motorcycle, ID no. 11689, I'm looking through a buyer's list now."_

"_And to think, we might not have even caught the criminal if they'd been environmental and taken the bus." _Wally joked.

"_I got it! The dude who bought that motorcycle was a guy named Fredrick Samuels, lives in Missouri."_

"_What's his criminal record?" _Artemis asked, wondering how a seemingly ordinary teenager had pulled this robbery off.

"_Suspected gang member, but they don't have any evidence. He's definitely our guy."_

"_Looks like we're going to Missouri" _Zatanna remarked.

"_Bioship is already prepared for flight" _M'gann informed them.

The Team hastily departed for Missouri, determined to catch their criminal before he had time to relocate, or worse, use the armor to cause massive amounts of damage. They let know they had found the criminal, but instructed him not to inform the police so the thief would assume he was nowhere close to being caught. The Team knew Frederick would use the armor if he saw them coming, and were going to attempt to use stealth to apprehend him. They were, however, fully prepared to fight if the need arose.

"We're here" M'gann announced.

The Team dropped in silently, surrounding the house in which Frederick lived with his usually drunk mother who was, according to Robin's sensors, currently out of the house (Raven remarked that she was probably at the nearby pub). However, they couldn't detect Frederick either, even with Wally's heat vision goggles and Conner's powers. That left them all wondering the same thing: Where was their culprit?

After 10 minutes of waiting and scanning with no sign of the teenage Samuels, Kaldur sent out an order via their psychic link.

"_Robin, Artemis, I want the two of you to go inside the house and look for him. The key to succeeding in this mission is stealth, so be as silent as possible."_

"_Understood Kaldur" _Robin and Artemis replied in unison, slowly inching closer to the Samuels' house. Robin dropped in through an open window on the second floor, and Artemis slid down through the house's chimney, both careful not to make a sound and alert Frederick of their presence. Robin crept silently through the dimly lit hallway on the trash-covered second floor, keeping his ears open for the sound of movement. Suddenly, he heard the very faint creak of a floorboard, and whipped out a birdarang, doing a somersault in midair and darting towards the noise, but finding no one. He was about to tell the Team there was no one in sight, until he heard a loud CRASH downstairs. Running to the ground floor and doing a double flip halfway down the stairs to save time, he sprinted into the living room to see chimney soot covered Artemis fighting hand-to-hand with an armored-clad Frederick Samuels!

"Give up Frederick! You can't win!" he yelled.

"My name's not Frederick any more, ya hear?! It's Adonis! The gang is gonna pay for kicking me out once they see how powerful I am now!" Suddenly, he grabbed hold of Artemis's wrist and flung her across the room, causing her to collide with a wall.

"_Artemis! Are you alright?!"_

"_I'm fine, now look out!"_

Robin turned to see Frederick (or Adonis) charging towards him at full speed. Flipping out of the way, he placed a detonator on the armor-clad teen's back.

"_Team, we've found Frederick, and he's wearing the armor, we're in the living room, get here quick! Also, he's calling himself Adonis now…"_

"_On our way now." _Zatanna responded.

"You can't keep dodging forever, kid!" Adonis taunted.

"I don't have to." Robin said, activating the detonator. The sound of Robin's cackle filled the room, accompanied by a beeping, before it exploded, knocking 'Adonis' onto his stomach, but not damaging the armor. In an attempt to prevent Adonis getting back up, Artemis fired a trick arrow, successfully hitting Adonis in the back and sending an electric current through his armor. It was at that moment in which the rest of the Team arrived to aid them in the fight. Adonis cried out in pain, the electric current not being strong enough to kill him, but enough to give him a nasty electric shock. Upon seeing the Team arrive, however, he ignored the pain and gave them a cocky smirk.

"Well, well, well, looks like we've got some more mini heroes. You guys really think you can beat me?"

"We don't think, we know." Artemis stated, firing a new arrow, this one filled green goo that enveloped Adonis's armor, forcing his robotic arms to be pinned at his sides. Adonis just laughed and stretched his robotic limbs, tearing the goo. He then fired roughly 30 missiles at the Team.

"Ekam eht selissim tih sinodA!" Zatanna yelled **(Make the missiles hit Adonis!) **causing the missiles to suddenly change direction and come straight back at him. Unfortunately, the armor didn't even receive a scratch.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven cried, surrounding the armor in a black aura and causing it to begin to tear itself off of Adonis. Adonis chortled and used one of the armor's built in guns to shoot at her before the armor could be fully removed. Raven put up a shield of energy to protect herself, but lost her concentration on the armor, causing the removal to be halted. Adonis pounced on her, holding her against the wall as she struggled to break free.

"I like the feisty ones." He taunted with a smirk, causing her to shoot him with dark energy (which proved to be ineffective). As she struggled,Superboy came up from behind and dragged him off, using his enhanced strength to deliver a swift punch to Adonis's robot chest (only giving the armor a dent).

"_Conner, get clear!" _Rocket yelled via telepathic link, causing Superboy to leap out of the way. Rocket then used her powers to create a purple bubble around Adonis, effectively trapping him.

"_How long can you hold that armor?" _Kaldur asked her.

"_Kinetic energy makes it stronger, so if he tries to punch it, pretty long. If he shoots a missile, we have a problem."_

"_Kaldur, can your water bearers can short out his armor?" _Wally asked.

"_I don't think they will KF. I just pulled up the armor's schematics to look for weak points. It's waterproof. No potential weak points either." _Robin replied.

"_Has anyone seen Artemis?" _M'gann remarked, curious and slightly worried.

"_I'm sure she's fine M'gann. Back to the matter at hand, magic doesn't work too well with technology, and I used A LOT of energy the last time I tried to tear apart his armor. I think if Zatanna and I try at the same time, we might be able to get that armor off. What do you think, Zatanna?" _Raven brainstormed; extremely annoyed with the amount of time this battle was taking.

"_It's a longshot, but it just might work."_

"_What are you two waiting for, then? DO IT!" _Kid Flash yelled, eager to get the battle over with.

Both Raven and Zatanna closed their eyes, chanting and summoning all the power they could. Raven was repeatedly chanting her three word mantra, while Zatanna was hastily reciting 'Evomer eht romra!' **(Remove the armor!) **until the armor had finally come off. They had won.

As the police dragged the now scrawny teenager (Kid Flash made sure to mock his physique) away, he declared revenge on the Team as well as stating 'You better sleep with one eye open, feisty!' exquisitely to Raven, Artemis appeared from the surrounding trees, secretly sporting a black eye under her mask, as well as several visible shallow cuts and bruises. She also had a deep, bleeding gash on her left shoulder that looked like a stab wound and a small stream of blood trickling down the back of her neck. As well as looking in pain, she looked exhausted.

"Where were you?" Kid Flash questioned, more than a little annoyed at her sudden disappearance (he had yet to forget the stunt she pulled in the New Orleans).

"It's not important, can we go home now?"

Before Kid Flash could respond M'gann cut in "Are you alright? There's a hospital about 20 minutes from here if you need medical attention." She said, her eyes filled with concern.

"No I'm fine." Artemis replied, waving her hand dismissively at her friends' concerned looks. "It's just a few cuts and bruises, but I'm more than ready to leave."

Unwilling to further question their teammate or her wounds the Team headed towards the bioship. Raven psychically asked her if she needed to be healed, and what she'd been doing during the fight (Artemis told her after she blocked her signal from M'gann) but otherwise she was left alone, something she'd been grateful for.

They would be better off not knowing what was going on anyways.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: 20 followers, 9 favorites, and 11 reviews! You guys are the best! By the way, I will try to update once a week, maybe twice if I can manage. Also, I find it a little difficult to add Superboy in conversations, so at the end of the chapter I always feel like I could've given him more dialogue. If you have any ideas as to how I can involve him a little more without making him **_**too **_**social, leave a suggestion in a review. Thanks so much! One last thing: Raven is starting school a week after the winter semester has begun. Zatanna had started there after her father became Doctor Fate, so she knows 3 people at Happy Harbor High. **

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still do not own YJ or Raven.

Previously:

_Unwilling to further question their teammate or her wounds the Team headed towards the bioship. Raven psychically asked her if she needed to be healed, and what she'd been doing during the fight (Artemis told her after she blocked her signal from M'gann) but otherwise she was left alone, something she'd been grateful for._

_They would be better off not knowing what was going on anyways._

Chapter 4: First day of school and a fight between teammates

Three days after the battle was Rachael Roth's first day of school. Raven awoke two hours before sunrise, _not_ because she was excited for her first day of school, but because in order to keep her emotions in check, she needed to meditate. She sat in the lotus position, floating two inches above her bed, for roughly two hours, before her concentration was broken by her blaring alarm clock, announcing it was time to get ready for school. Raven hated-no, _loathed_ school (which is why she dropped out in the first place) and it wasn't because of learning (she didn't really mind that at all) or teachers (as long as they weren't unreasonably strict) or even getting up early (she did that anyways). It was because of all those _other people_. Other people who mocked her for everything from her hair color to her dress sense, from her love of reading to her good grades, from her rivalry with the cheerleaders (for M'gann's sake she would try to refrain from that this time) to her antisocial tendencies. She disliked like other people as much as other people disliked her (though there were a few exceptions). It was a fact for Raven Roth, and it would be a fact for Rachael Roth too.

Sighing, Raven (or Rachael) got up from her bed and walked down the hall of the house she was currently still sharing with her sentimental brother (she had yet to move into the cave) to the bathroom to do all the regular morning things (wash face, brush teeth, shower, etc.) After that, she went back to her room to wear her holo-ring and change out of the black T-shirt and leggings she had slept in. She chose to wear a midnight blue hoodie on top of a long sleeved black T-shirt and black skinny jeans. She topped off the outfit with a pair of midnight blue winter boots. Finally, she slipped on the holo-ring, which immediately changed her hair from violet to black, which came down to her shoulder blades in waves, as well as changing her eye color to a clear blue. Her complexion also changed, but only to a more natural pale. 'Rachael' stared at herself in the mirror. She'd always wanted to be normal, but she was so used to looking different the 'normal' looked alien to her. It was like Artemis always told her when she complained about her looks 'Normal is overrated.' She didn't believe her until now. Sighing, she slipped her phone into her pocket, grabbed her black backpack from next to the room door, and went to wake up her brother.

As she was on the way to her brother's room, her phone rang. She answered it, only to find out it was none other than Artemis who had called.

"Hey Rave, good luck at school today!"

"You could have said that over the psychic link, you know it works so long as we're on the same planet." Raven droned in monotone.

"Yeah, but I thought it'd mean more if I called. I would have stayed at your house-"

"_his _house" Rachael/Raven corrected.

"Right. Anyways, I would've stayed over last night so I could wish you good luck in person, but you insisted against it."

"The zeta tube is a 30 minute walk to Gotham Academy. You didn't need to risk getting late at to class at a fancy private school just so that you could say two words to me."

"It wouldn't matter. It's just a school full of snobs and posers who think money will get you everything in life. The only cool people there are Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, and they're both two years younger than me!"

"I know, and you only go there because your mother's happiness is so important to you, but the point is, you still don't need to risk getting late. And neither do I, so thanks for wishing me good luck, and goodbye."

"Bye, Rave! Stay out of trouble!"

"I doubt that's possible at high school." Raven muttered to herself, aware of the fact that Artemis had already hung up. Shoving her phone back in her pocket, she continued her walk down the hall until she found her brother's bedroom. Not bothering to knock (she knew it wouldn't wake up a heavy sleeper like him) she threw open the door to find him, as she'd predicted, out cold, with no shirt and a pair of tattered sweatpants on.

"Duncan, wake up! I'm leaving for school and I don't want to be late!" She yelled, shaking him. His appearance was odd, to say the least. He had a green Mohawk, and the rest of his hair was jet black and in a buzz cut style. He also had multiple lip and nose piercings. **(The same Duncan from Total Drama, for those who know the show.)** Rachael/Raven continued to try and wake him for a while longer, before giving up and writing him a note on an unused notepad in his room.

GONE TO SCHOOL. TODAY WAS MY FIRST DAY, REMEMBER? OF COURSE YOU DON'T. YOU'RE TOO BUST GETTING HANGOVERS.-RAVEN

With a final shake of her head, Raven exited the room and shut the door. _This _was why she wanted to move into Mount Justice. Leaving the very small one-floor house they shared, she mounted her bike and hurried off, ready for her first day.

"Class, we have a new student joining our homeroom. Please welcome Rachael Roth, I hope you will try to befriend her, and make her feel at home at our school. That being said let us continue with the morning announcements…" Room 13B's homeroom teacher, Mr. Denver, droned on in his flat voice, his prominent stomach and balding head the only notable things about him. Every sophomore in the room turned to stare at the newcomer and then snickered at her pale skin and dark clothing. She tuned them out, instead focusing on the thick volume she was reading, her hair falling over her face and acting as a barrier from the outside world. Inwardly, however, she sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Rachael Roth was proved wrong, however, as her during lessons her classmates could hardly do anything aside from whispering about her, something she had long since learned to tune out. Half the day had already flown by (Megan was in her AP Biology and AP English lit. classes and Conner was in her Physics class-her only non-AP class. She also had Zatanna with her in AP Calculus, but she hadn't had that class yet.) It was now time for lunch-the worst part of the day. She walked into the cafeteria, more than a little apprehensive. She saw exactly what she expected-tables and tables of people belonging to different social statuses and cliques all sitting together. The cheerleaders sat in the middle of the room, practically on display and loving the attention. (Rachael silently wondered why the most popular girls at every school were airheaded cheerleaders with pounds of makeup on and skirts so short they might as well walk in their underwear. So far, Megan was the only cheerleader she'd ever met who didn't follow the stereotype.) Speaking of the disguised Martian, she was among the cheerleaders, but she seemed oblivious to all the attention. The jocks sat on the tables on either side of them, (Conner being reluctantly included) and the nerds sat in the corner closest to the door, probably so that they could be first to class when the bell rang. There were several other cliques an Even though Rachael didn't want to, she was probably going to end up sitting at a table with the Goths. She made her way closer to their table, she realized Zatanna was sitting at a table by herself, and hurriedly made a better decision. She approached her fellow magician, who was sitting at the corner of the room, and Zatanna happily accepted the offer. The girls began to make Smalltalk, and decided to sit together at all lunchtimes.

"So, how come you're not sitting with Megan? I know for a fact she offered." Zatanna questioned.

"Same reason you aren't. Megan is sweet and all and I'm sure that _some _of the cheerleaders are too, but the others are totally fake bimbos."

Rachael was no idiot, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before the popular kids confronted her. It seemed, however, from the rumors going around, that one bimbo had stolen another's boyfriend (or something along that line-she didn't really care for gossip) and so they were too occupied to try and make her life a living hell and the day went by without incident.

Rachael walked to the zeta tube along with Zatanna, since they had decided along with Megan and Conner that the pair would leave five minutes before them so as not to attract too much attention, and then she would go with Zatanna so that her fellow magician could show her the way to the zeta tube of Happy Harbor. There was a beam of light and they could faintly hear the computer announce 'RECOGNIZED: ZATANNA B08, RAVEN B10.' And then they arrived at the Cave. Before Raven could announce she was going to change (she kept two leotards in Artemis's room since hers was still under construction) a certain female archer walked up to the pair.

"So how was your first day Raven, or should I call you Rachael?" Artemis asked.

"It was actually pretty good. There was drama amongst the populars so they were too busy to drill the new kid."

"Good to hear. But if they give you trouble, you know you can just let me know and I'll help you. It's not my school so they can't suspend me."

"What are _you _going to do? Shoot your flimsy arrows at them? And besides, she's not a little kid. Raven actually has superpowers; she's stronger than you are. She doesn't need your help." Wally interrupted. The Team just mentally facepalmed, knowing that trying to prevent an argument was a waste of breath.

"First of all, there is such a thing as secret identities, Kid Dork. Which is why I wouldn't shoot them with arrows and she wouldn't use her powers, and Raven wouldn't bother to waste her powers on them even if she didn't have a secret ID. She's better than that. I would just give some threats of violence; maybe give a couple black eyes and broken noses if they don't listen when I warn them. Nobody messes with my sister."

"Anger issues much? Of course you have anger issues, why am I even bothering to ask? Only you would go around giving black eyes and bloody noses as if they were Christmas presents. You only seem to be an adequate fighter when its someone innocent or on or side, not when it's a villain."

"What's that supposed to mean? At least I'm capable of defending myself against a villain no matter the circumstances. Slap a control collar on you and what can you do?"

"More than you can, apparently, since you weren't using any of those fighting skills against Adonis. Where exactly were you during that fight? Pulling a stupid disappearing act while the rest of us were risking our lives! At least the Team can trust me, even if I suck at combat. Roy was right about you, you're probably just a spy for the bad guys! A traitor!"

Suddenly, the room was filled with silent stares. Wally had crossed the line this time. One of the worst insults anyone could give to a hero was to call them a traitor or a spy. Artemis, to her credit, showed no signs of hurt. To be honest, she showed no signs of _anything _after Wally's final comment. Her body language was unreadable; she was slouched ever so slightly to give the impression of carelessness even though her muscles were tense. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was giving off a bored vibe. Her facial expression was blank, and her eyes were devoid of any emotion. The latter worried the Team. No matter how unreadable Artemis could be at times, you could always rely on her eyes. When she was happy or satisfied or smug her eyes took on a blue tint with a slight twinkle of liveliness in them; when she was angry or upset they had a grey hue to them (The darker the grey, the more upset she was.) You could always use this color code to determine Artemis's mood at the current moment. Presently, they were a perfect balance of blue-grey, like the ocean on a cloudy day. It was impossible to tell how she was feeling and both M'gann's ability to sense strong emotions (she wouldn't dare read her mind) and Raven's empathic abilities were drawing a blank. Raven wasn't worried, however, as she knew what Artemis was doing. Part of her training had been to cut off all emotions (Jade had actually been the one to teach her this.) and that was what she was doing. It was an instinct, a failsafe for Artemis in case there was too much negative emotion coursing through her. She would cut off emotion entirely.

Wally's feelings on what he'd just said, however, were crystal clear. His face and eyes were filled with a mix of horror and regret, his hands clapped over his mouth as if to prevent him from saying anything else he'd regret, or perhaps in the hope it would cause the words he'd just spoken to have been in his head instead of aloud.

The rest of the Team had a wide range of emotions. Kaldur looked at Wally with disappointment, even going as far as to shake his head ever so slightly. Robin's eyes were covered by his mask, but it was clear from his body language that he was _not _whelmed right now. Conner had a look of sheer anger, his blue eyes blazing, but Wally disregarded that since in his eyes Conner was _always _angry. M'gann's eyes were darting from Wally to Artemis and then back to Wally again, filled with fear and uncertainty about what was about to happen between her two friends. Zatanna gave him a look filled with rage, with a slight hint of worry. Raquel's jaw was dropped, her eyes filled with horror at the words spoken. If the situation wasn't so serious the majority of the Team would be laughing at her facial expression. Raven looked completely and utterly _livid_. Wally had never seen an amethyst being thrown into fire, but he imagined it would look like Raven's eyes right now. He had a feeling that if the rest of the Team (Artemis included) didn't kill him for what he'd just said, Raven would happily send him to his grave.

'Never mind the Team or certain doom right now, I may have just destroyed any chance of ever becoming friends with Artemis! I have to fix this, fast.'

"Artemis, listen I-"

"Save it." Artemis said in a monotone (hearing her voice so devoid of emotion made everyone in the room flinch) as she turned to leave via zeta tube.

Wally caught her by the wrist. "Listen I'm really-"

Before he could apologize, she flipped him. "Sorry? No you're not. You're worried that everyone's going to be mad at you so you're giving me at fake apology." She claimed, giving the speedster (who still lay on his back) a slight sneer, though her voice was still in monotone.

After her proclamation, she left the room with a blast of light and an official announcement from the computer.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: 1000 views! I'm sooo happy right now! Thanks to everyone who read this fanfiction! This is my first fanfiction, so thanks to everyone for showing their support! For the rest of the story, I will refer to Raven as Rachael, M'gann as Megan, and Superboy as Conner when they're at school. Also, be sure to let me know how I can involve Superboy more!**

Disclaimer: YJ and Raven do not belong to me. *Sniff*

Previously:

_Wally caught her by the wrist. "Listen I'm really-"_

_Before he could apologize, she flipped him. "Sorry? No you're not. You're worried that everyone's going to be mad at you so you're giving me at fake apology." She claimed, giving the speedster (who still lay on his back) a slight sneer, though her voice was still in monotone._

_After her proclamation, she left the room with a blast of light and an official announcement from the computer._

Chapter 5: Angry archers and atrocious cheerleaders

Wally flopped face down on his bed at the Cave and sighed. After being severely yelled at by all his teammates (minus Artemis, of course) he'd resigned to his room at Mount Justice to work out how to fix things with Artemis. He felt awful about their argument, but as Robin had so eloquently put it 'Regretting what you said won't make her forgive you.'

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot! Just when we were starting to be friends-well at least an acquaintance, calling her a friend is probably pushing it-I say something offensive that I didn't mean and ruin everything! How am I supposed to make this up to her?!" Wally yelled; a sinking feeling in settling his stomach as he realized she would probably never talk to him again. Before he could continue to berate himself, however, there was a knock on the door.

"Wally, it's Rob. Can I come in?"

Wally ran a hand through his carrot-colored hair and sighed before reluctantly opening the door (knowing full well that the Boy Wonder would probably blow it up if he refused). The door opened with a hydraulic hiss to reveal his friend was clearly _not _'feeling the aster' as he often phrased it.

"You hear to yell at me some more? Conner and Raven did enough of that already. _Especially _Raven. Who knew someone so quiet could be so intimidating?"

"I'm not here to yell at you again, even though you deserve it." He said, muttering the last part more to himself than to the speedster. "I'm here to ask you how you plan to make things right."

"I don't know, okay? She's never gonna talk to me ever again!" Wally groaned. "Can't you go all ninja troll on her and get her to forgive me?"

"Can I? Yes. Will I? Nope. You really hurt her, Wally. You have to get her to forgive you on your own."

"That's impossible."

"Look, Wally, Artemis is like a sister to me, and it wouldn't be fair to her if I forced her to forgive you. If you want her forgiveness, figure out a way to give her a sincere apology, and make sure she believes you aren't doing this because we forced you to." Robin concluded, before making his way to the door. "Oh, by the way, the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be to get her forgiveness, so come up with something fast."

And with that, Robin left Wally to think of a way to earn the blonde archer's forgiveness.

*The Next day*

Rachael Roth had been having a relatively good day so far. Her 'brother' Duncan had woken up to see her off today, even going so far as to apologize for having been drunk, hung-over, or out cold lately and spending no time with her. She knew he would be back to his old antics within a week or two, but it was nice to know he cared. Her next pleasant surprise was when she reached school and found Zatanna Zatara waiting for her at the entrance, despite it being quite chilly outside. While school had continued with the usual whispers, snickers, and inside jokes from her classmates, she was used to that, and had Megan, Zatanna, and Conner to help her out. The bell had just rung for lunchtime, and there had been no direct confrontations so far.

But all that was about to change.

She was on her way to lunch when she heard a girl's voice call out from somewhere behind her.

"Hey, Goth girl!"

'_Just keep walking. Ignore her and she'll get bored and leave. Don't even look at her.' _Rachael thought to herself, desperately hoping her hastily constructed plan of escape would work. She was suddenly surprised to find herself shoved against the lockers like in a cliché movie. Grabbing her by her midnight blue hoodie (she decided to wear it again, with a light blue shirt underneath and denim skinny jeans instead of black ones, as well as black ankle-high boots) was a girl roughly two inches taller than her. She has elbow-length blonde hair and clear blue eyes topped with skin colored eye shadow and black mascara and eyeliner. She was wearing the school's cheerleader outfit, except her skirt was shorter than the one Megan wore and her shirt revealed more than it concealed (tight _and _showed off stomach. Rachael had to fight back vomit.) Her shoes were clearly expensive, black in color and ankle length with a small heel. Rachael had to wonder why anyone would want to wear something like that in winter. Even Megan was wearing a full sleeved shirt and leggings with her cheerleader uniform now.

"Don't you know it's not polite to ignore people?" The blonde sneered.

"You called for 'Goth girl'. That could have been anyone. Don't you know you should call people by their names?" Rachael responded; making sure to use obvious air quotes on 'Goth girl'.

"Hmm, you're right, but since your name will hardly be worth remembering, I'll just call you Emo Loser. Sound good?"

"Not really, but I doubt I have a choice in this." Rachael answered in a monotone. "Now can you please let go of me?"

"Listen you worthless creep! My name is Tara Markov, and at this school, I'm the queen. No new girl is going to give me attitude. Stay out of my way, and listen next time I call you, 'cause if you don't, there'll be hell to pay. Understood?"

"I'm shaking in my boots." Rachael said sarcastically.

"You should be." Tara snarled, giving Rachael a swift punch to the stomach before strutting away.

"Rachael!" Megan cried before rushing to the pale girl's side. She was still clutching her stomach, trying to steady herself on the locker.

"I'm fine Megan. Some girl named Tara just decided to act as ugly as she looks."

"Yeah, Tara's the newest cheerleader. She can be pretty awful sometimes."

"Awful is an understatement. Try atrocious." She growled, earning a laugh from Megan. "Now do you see why I declined the offer to sit with you at lunch?"

"Yeah, I understand." Megan said slightly sullen. "At least walk with me to the cafeteria, then you can sit with Zatanna."

After the events before lunch, nothing out of the ordinary happened at Rachael's second day at Happy Harbor High, and soon Rachael was on her way to the zeta tube with Zatanna and Conner (Megan had cheer practice). Rachael had told Zatanna about Tara, to which Zatanna replied that she 'acted like a ***** to all new girls.' Conner simply trudged along in silence.

Upon entering the Cave, Rachael was hit with a whirlwind of emotions, granting her a slight headache. Announcing she was going to change, she headed off to Artemis's room, where she found the archer sitting on her bed reading an old book. Wordlessly, the archer got up and gave Raven (or Rachael, since she was in civilian clothes) her duffel bag.

"_I was sure you were going to make up an excuse to avoid coming here today. What changed your mind Artemis?" _Rachael/Raven asked through their link.

"_That would have just given Wally __**more **__reasons to insult me."_

"_He might actually regret what he said. I certainly sensed regret come off of him after he said it."_

"_He doesn't care. He just doesn't want the rest of the Team to be mad."_

"_I'm not so sure about that, but if you insist than there's no point in arguing with you. I know how stubborn you are."_

After she'd changed into her usual cloak and leotard, Raven headed off to talk to Artemis again, to find her reading in her room once more.

"What are you reading?"

"The book version of Nightmare on Elm Street. I know you love horror so you can read it when I'm finished."

"Thanks, I've heard the novelization is pretty good."

"So how was school?" Artemis questioned, giving Raven a look that told her lying would be pointless. Under her insistence, Raven proceeded to tell her about her day, but leaving out her encounter with Tara Markov (she had a sneaking suspicion Artemis would zeta to Happy Harbor and give Tara more than just a verbal warning).

"So what about you? Everything go alright at the School of Snobs?"

"Pretty much." Artemis lied. She'd had a more eventful day at Gotham Academy than expected, but she'd promised Dick (who she now knew was Robin) she wouldn't say anything about it.

"Artemis and Raven, report to the Mission Computer." Batman announced over the PA system. Both girls simply shrugged and went to follow the Dark Knight's orders.

As they arrived at the Mission Computer, Raven felt a great amount of anxiety and anger radiate off of Artemis. Batman had arrived in person, and was already standing in front of the rest of the Team (who had probably been in the Common Room when he came in.) Upon further analysis Raven also noticed that an archer (who Artemis had described as Roy Harper or Red Arrow) was also standing with him, directing a scowl at Artemis. Artemis didn't seem to notice, as she was busy making sure to wipe her appearance clear of emotions before a certain speedster tried to give her another 'fake' apology. Raven easily recognized that the Team was waiting to see how her sister would react, both to Wally and to Roy. It was also clear to her that while Artemis was angry (mainly with Wally, though it seemed that she didn't really enjoy Roy's presence either) she had no intention of reacting to anything currently happening, even if it revolved around her.

"Okay, since I know no one else is curious, what exactly is going on?" Raven interrogated, even going as far as to give Roy and Batman a mild glare.

"Well, I'm guessing it's nothing good. And it's going to cause complications." Robin stated.

"Artemis might be angry, but she's not going to go and sulk in the corner just because she has to be in the same room as Wally and Roy." Raven hissed, offended on Artemis's behalf.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Sure you didn't" Raven said sarcastically. "Now what is going on?" Raven asked, with more of a warning tone this time. She had a feeling that this was bad news.

"Bats is here to give you guys some news, and I'm here because I saw the footage from the last mission and need to talk to Artemis about her little disappearance."

"Well, don't bother. Wally already took the liberty of hurling accusations at me. Your job is done." Artemis snapped, causing Wally to stare at the floor in guilt and Roy to look slightly surprised (it was obvious even with the mask on).

"That may be one of the nicest things you've said all day." Robin joked.

"Seriously though Roy, My maximum of being called a traitor is once per mission, so go away before I'm tempted to use you as an archery target." Artemis threatened.

"Wait, Wally called you a traitor? Never mind, that's not what I was going to do. We established this after the mission at Hayley's Circus. There is no mole on the Team. Actually, I just wanted to know who that was that you were fighting." Roy said, narrowing his eyes behind his mask.

"Frederick Samuels, or if you want the psycho super villain name, Adonis." Artemis answered.

"You know what I mean."

"That is none of your business, Roy. If that is all, then I will see you next time you decide to drop by unexpectedly."

"You're wasting your time. Artemis won't talk about something unless she wants to. I've known her for eleven years, so take it from me." Raven advised.

"Okay, fine, everyone has secrets, and you did a pretty good job holding up until Rob arrived. I'll leave you alone, this time, at least. But don't expect me to give in next time."

"I'm so scared." Artemis replied with an eye roll. "So Batman, what's the news?"

"You all did good work on your last mission. Therefore, I regret to say that Adonis has escaped from prison. The armor he stole has been completed and relocated to a secret government facility until he is captured and sent back." Batman stated.

"Great, another crazed super villain bent on revenge. Could this get any better?" Conner muttered sarcastically.

"The other news is that Sportsmaster and Cheshire have escaped from Belle Reve Penitentiary" Batman said flatly, causing Artemis to face-palm (the Team still didn't know about her family). "Great, three escaped prisoners that hate us, all most likely bent on revenge. Something tells me that armor isn't going to stay locked up for very long. And speaking of escaped villains, I heard that Scarecrow and the Riddler escaped two weeks ago and haven't been caught yet. I have a bad feeling at least four of those five villains plan to come after us first." Artemis said, causing her teammates to stare at each other in apprehension. "If they do, we will be ready" Kaldur stated boldly, though on the inside he wasn't quite so sure. 


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: For the sake of this story, Garfield was 12 when Miss Martian gave him the blood transfusion (yes I know he was 8), and he's 13 now. Raven is 15 (I'm not sure if I mentioned that already). Also, in the TV show, Garfield gets his powers and appearance from the blood transfusion, but in the comics, he contracts a rare disease called Sakutia and he was saved by an untested medicine that gave him his unusual appearance and shape shifting abilities. Also, in the show, his mom is killed when Queen Bee enthralled her into driving off a cliff, but in the comics his parents die after falling off of a waterfall (completely by accident). I've put a poll for both on my profile, so you guys get to decide Gar's backstory! Voting will last roughly a week (maybe two) so be sure to vote ASAP.**

Previously:

"_Great, three escaped prisoners that hate us, all most likely bent on revenge. Something tells me that armor isn't going to stay locked up for very long. And speaking of escaped villains, I heard that Scarecrow and the Riddler escaped two weeks ago and haven't been caught yet. I have a bad feeling at least four of those five villains plan to come after us first." Artemis said, causing her teammates to stare at each other in apprehension._ "_If they do, we will be ready" Kaldur stated boldly, though on the inside he wasn't quite so sure._

Chapter 6: Robin's identity and Garfield Logan

Artemis stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, listening to the police sirens passing by (all part of Gotham City's eerie soundtrack) thinking about the events that had transpired at school today. It was certainly going to take some getting used to, seeing Dick Grayson every day at school and reminding herself that he was Robin, protégé to Batman and the Team's resident super hacker and troll. And to think, this all happened because of a crazy fan…

_Flashback:_ _Artemis was walking down the halls with Dick Grayson. The two were on their way to the cafeteria where they were going to meet Barbara. The newest member to their little group, Bette Kane, was at home with the flu. They were just about to go in when they heard a shrill voice coming from somewhere behind them._

"_Yoo-hoo, Richie-Poo, your kitten has arrived!"_

"_Quick, hide me!" Dick hissed to Artemis, desperately scanning the area for a potential hiding spot. Artemis grabbed him by the arm and ducked into the next hallway, waiting for the footsteps to pass. "Thanks Artemis." _ "

_You're welcome. Who was that anyway?"_

"_Some new girl in my Geometry class named Katrina Moth. She tells everyone to call her Kitten, no idea why. She was giving me this creepy stare all lesson and I overheard her telling some other girls that she's guaranteed to be my girlfriend by the end of this semester."_

"_Wow, you've got yourself a crazed fan girl, congrats Dick."_

"_Can't you help me somehow?"_

"_What do you want me to do, exactly?"_

"_You could punch her face or something. Please Arty?" Dick asked hopefully._

"_What? No way! I've actually done a pretty decent job of avoiding hate from rich brats like Katrina, even though I'm a scholarship kid. If I punch a rich popular girl, I'll be the most hated person in school! And anyways, don't you usually ask Barbara for things like this?"_

"_Babs already said no, because Katrina's dad is planning to make a big donation to the police department and if he hears that the Commissioner's daughter broke his daughter's nose, he'd probably change his mind. And Bette is sick, so I can't ask her."_ _Before they could finish their conversation, the source of the high-pitched voice was in front of them. She had bleached blonde hair and light blue eyes that clearly had contacts on them. She wore the regular Gotham Academy uniform, with high heels to complete the outfit. _

"_There you are Richie-poo! Why don't you ditch that trash and we can hang out together?" Kitten said, gesturing to Artemis and batting her mascara covered eyelashes._

"_Actually, the only trash I see is standing in front of me, trying and failing to get me to leave my true friend and calling me 'Richie-poo'. Can you guess who she is?" Dick responded, more than a little annoyed with the insult directed at Artemis._

"_Beat it Katrina, Dick already has a girlfriend." Artemis snarled._

"_Oh yeah, who is she? I doubt he'd date you, scholarship trash."_

"_It's not me, her name is Bette Kane, she's sick at home, and I'm her best friend."_

"_Then why are you hanging out with him? I doubt she wants to come back to school and find out that you were getting all cozy with her boyfriend while she was gone."_

"_She asked me to stick close to him. She had to make sure that hopelessly obsessed girls like you didn't get too close to her little Dickie-Bird while she was out of school."_

"_Mark my words, Dick Grayson will be mine! Bette Kane better watch her back, because I'm coming for her! And my name is Kitten, not Katrina!" 'Kitten' shrieked before stalking off._

"_Bette is not going to be happy." Artemis stated once she was out of hearing range._

"_Why Dickie-Bird?" Dick complained._

"_Hey, if I have to protect you from obnoxious rich girls, I should at least get to humiliate you in the process. And you kind of look like Robin…" Artemis trailed off, lost in her thoughts._

"_That's ridiculous. How could I be Robin?" Dick laughed slightly uneasily._

"_Same height, same age-roughly I mean, how would I know Robin's age? Both from Gotham, both intelligent too. Similar vocal patterns, though he has a slightly deeper voice. And on my first day here, when you took that picture, you didn't even know me…" Artemis murmured, more to herself than to Dick. _ "_You are Robin, aren't you?" She accused after connecting all the dots._

"_What, no I'm not; Robin fights crime on a daily basis, can do amazing gymnastics, and knows martial arts. I can't do any of that."_

"_Quit lying. I know it's you. Why didn't you ever tell me?" She interrogated, narrowing her eyes dangerously. Dick knew there was no point in trying to play dumb, so instead he mumbled 'Batman's orders'. Artemis forgave him for it (after all, she had her own secrets) under the condition that he explained the whole fake dating thing to Bette. He made her promise not to tell the rest of the Team, and she reluctantly agreed. _

_End of Flashback_

Artemis smiled as she recalled her reaction to discovering the Boy Wonder's secret identity. To be honest, it was a relief to know that she could talk to someone at school about previous missions, concerns regarding super villains, and how annoying Wally could be. People always told her that secrets could tear a friendship apart, but Robin's secret had brought them closer together.

*The Next Day*

"Team, you have a new member. For those of you who have not already met him, Miss Martian will introduce him." Batman announced before taking the zeta tubes to the Watchtower.

"Team, this is my Blood Brother, Garfield Logan. Most of you already know him since we met him and his mother on the Bialyan border a few months ago." M'gann said, smiling and ruffling her brother's hair. "Gar, you already know Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy. Meet Artemis, Zatanna, Rocket, and our newest member, before you of course, Raven." As each member of the Team introduced themselves in turn, Raven took some time to take in Garfield's appearance. Green hair, skin, and eyes. Claws and fangs. Pointed ears and a scrawny physique. But the thing that stood out most to Raven was the unspoken pain hidden in his eyes (pain that he was clearly trying to mask). It piqued her curiosity, but she knew better than to ask about a sensitive subject. Even if he didn't get angry, upset, offended, or worse, he'd start reliving some very painful memories, and Raven was hardly the comforting type (though Artemis frequently said otherwise).

"Hi, I'm Garfield Logan, but you can call me Beast Boy." He said, stretching out a hand. Raven hesitated, but tentatively shook it.

"Raven. Raven Roth. Are you moving into Mount Justice?" Raven realized that she'd made a mistake in asking when she saw the amount of pain in his eyes increase.

"Y-Yeah. I'm moving in. And I'm going to school in Happy Harbor. I won't be going to school with you until next year though, since I'm still in Middle School."

"So, have you been to the Cave before?" Raven asked (obviously, she had kept her monotone while talking to Beast Boy).

"Nope, this is my first time here. Maybe you can show me around?"

"Well, I don't know about the lower floors, you'd have to ask Artemis or Robin about those, but I can show you all the rooms you'll actually need to go to." Raven informed, half-expecting him to decline and ask someone else (someone who could give him a full tour).

"Sure, sounds good." He replied.

And for the first time since their conversation started, Raven offered him a genuine smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks so much for the follows, favorites, views, and reviews! I'm going to be away on vacation for a week, so I may not get to update until I get back. Also, for anyone who hasn't voted the poll is still open!**

Previously:

"_So, have you been to the Cave before?" Raven asked (obviously, she had kept her monotone while talking to Beast Boy)._ "_Nope, this is my first time here. Maybe you can show me around?"_ "_Well, I don't know about the lower floors, you'd have to ask Artemis or Robin about those, but I can show you all the rooms you'll actually need to go to." Raven informed, half-expecting him to decline and ask someone else (someone who could give him a full tour)._ "_Sure, sounds good." He replied._

_And for the first time since their conversation started, Raven offered him a genuine smile._

Chapter 7: Corny jokes and Wally's apology

"And this is the back entrance to the Cave, bringing us to the end of our tour." Raven drawled as she showed Gar the waterfall at the back of the Cave that overlooked the Cave's private beach.

"It's pretty nice, if you're into that kind of stuff. You know; Sun, the beach…" Beast boy joked, lightly elbowing the Team's darkest member.

Raven let out a small, melodic laugh. "You know, you're actually kind of funny." She said with a small smile on her face (a rare feat for the empath).

Gar's eyes seemed to sparkle with the complement, the unspoken pain hidden in them pushed to the back of his mind. "You think I'm funny? Sweet! I know some jokes! Why was 6 afraid of seven?" he chirped, causing Raven to inwardly groan.

What had she just gotten herself into?

While Raven was busy giving the green shape shifter a tour, Artemis had been lounging in the common room (Wally had retreated to his room after the introduction). She was currently playing checkers with Robin while munching a sandwich, and surprisingly had actually won two out of the four games; hence the winner take all tiebreaker they were currently involved in (Artemis idly wondered if anyone had ever beaten the miniature ninja and lived to tell the tale). The game continued for roughly ten minutes, both sides being evenly matched, before Artemis managed to gain the upper hand and win their 'two person tournament' as Robin phrased it. After rubbing it in just a little and finishing her sandwich, Artemis left for her room to get her bow and arrows for target practice. Upon entering her room, however, she found a note neatly folded on her bed.

'Artemis,

I know you're still really mad at me (to be honest, you have every right to be) but at least hear me out. Meet me on the roof of that new apartment building on 4th Street, Gotham at 7:00pm so we can talk.

Wally'

Artemis read the note over and over again, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything due to Wally's untidy scrawl. Should she go meet him? His comment hurt her more than she'd let anyone know (which is why she was using her emotionless fallback whenever they were in the same room) but he was making an attempt to apologize. Finally, after much internal debate, she decided to hear him out and just walk away if she felt his apology was insincere. After all, it wasn't as if Gotham was unfamiliar territory. She traded her usual brown jacket for a black leather one (there was a history behind her leather jacket-which is why she never wore it around the Team-she was trying to forget her past) before walking out towards the zeta tubes with her bow and a grappling arrow to get onto the roof.

When she arrived, she was expecting to be bombarded with awkward apologies from the speedster. To her surprise, there was a cliché red and white checkered tablecloth and a picnic basket, as well as a few lit candles. The Sun was beginning to set, streaking the sky with gentle pinks and oranges and shades of yellow that looked more like gold. The city lights were beginning to turn on, making crime filled Gotham City look peaceful, elegant and (if Artemis was being completely honest) beautiful. She could still hear the faint wails of police sirens in the distance and the occasional whir of a helicopter, reminding her that she was still in Gotham and not in a different world.

Her silent awe at the transformation of her home town was broken by none other than Wally West, the annoying speedster who invited her up here.

"I knew you'd like the view." He claimed with a soft chuckle.

"Why exactly did you invite me up here?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why would you go through all this trouble?"

"Because Artemis, I knew if I apologized to you without showing that I really meant it, you'd think it was for the Team, and not because I felt bad about what I said. So let me just say I felt horrible about it. I regretted the words the second they came out of my mouth and I'm seriously sorry if I hurt you. I wasn't thinking."

"No kidding." Artemis smirked. "But since you went through all this trouble just to give me a real apology, I forgive you. Say anything like that again though, and you won't be able to win me over with a nice view."

"It won't happen again, promise. Now since all is forgiven, does that mean I get to eat all the food?"

"Not a chance, Baywatch. What sort of food did you make anyways?"

"Spaghetti, and no, I didn't burn the house down. I also bought breadsticks and garlic bread." Wally answered.

"You can have the garlic bread, since I'm allergic to garlic. Now let's eat, I'm starving!"

"Careful Artemis, you're beginning to sound like me!" Wally joked.

After that, the pair of teenage heroes ate heartily (Artemis actually admitted the food was good) occasionally teasing each other about previous missions. Artemis would remind Wally of a time when he tripped over his own two feet or blew their cover, and Wally would respond with a reminder of one of the rare cases where Artemis would miss a shot (but was smart enough to not mention the mission in the New Orleans). The duo felt better knowing that tomorrow they would go back to their usual dynamic of arguments and insults (not serious ones of course) but for now they could be friends enjoying dinner.

"So Artemis, out of curiosity, where did you disappear to in the fight against Adonis?"

"Don't worry about it. It's got something to do with my past, but I'm not in any trouble and I can handle this myself. Maybe one day I'll tell you, but that day is not today."

"If you're sure, then I won't push you. But you have the Team, Artemis. You're not alone unless you choose to be." Wally stated, the words echoing through Artemis's head. She knew that for once he was right, but she wasn't prepared for the Team's judgment.

'_My past is in the past, and I intend to keep it that way.'_ Artemis thought as the night came to a close and both teens headed back home.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'M BACK! Now that I'm officially back home, updates will resume to being roughly once a week. I haven't checked yet, but I hope you guys have been answering the poll, because the results will probably be needed for the next chapter. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, since I've been away for a while and haven't got too many reviews lately… Please review; it's the only way I know what's on your minds when you're reading this!**

Previously:

_Artemis would remind Wally of a time when he tripped over his own two feet or blew their cover, and Wally would respond with a reminder of one of the rare cases where Artemis would miss a shot (but was smart enough to not mention the mission in the New Orleans). The duo felt better knowing that tomorrow they would go back to their usual dynamic of arguments and insults (not serious ones of course) but for now they could be friends enjoying dinner._

"_So Artemis, out of curiosity, where did you disappear to in the fight against Adonis?"_

"_Don't worry about it. It's got something to do with my past, but I'm not in any trouble and I can handle this myself. Maybe one day I'll tell you, but that day is not today."_

"_If you're sure, then I won't push you. But you have the Team, Artemis. You're not alone unless you choose to be." Wally stated, the words echoing through Artemis's head. She knew that for once he was right, but she wasn't prepared for the Team's judgment._

'_My past is in the past, and I intend to keep it that way.' Artemis thought as the night came to a close and both teens headed back home._

Chapter 8: Attack of the Scarecrow and Raven's martial arts skills

It seems that all catastrophes start off as boring, average days.

Two days after forgiving Wally, Artemis was at Gotham Academy with her best friends: Dick Grayson, the infamous ward of Bruce Wayne and the school's smartest mathlete; Barbra Gordon, the witty redhead who always knew what to say to the school's stuck-ups; and Bette Kane, the peacekeeper of this humorous and very hot-tempered group of teenagers who seemed to always know when a member of the group needed to be cheered up (and was always prepared to lift their spirits). They had all arrived in the same order they usually did, with Dick arriving first, then Bette, then Babs, and finally Artemis (The former two had faster cars and Artemis lived further away than any of them). Each had gone to their classes and handed in their homework (some better quality than others) before plopping down at their desks and listening to the teacher drone on endlessly until the bell put them out of their misery. The only remotely eventful thing that occurred before lunchtime was the hateful looks Bette received from all the girls who dreamed of going out with Dick Grayson (Bette had been informed about the incident with 'Kitten' and silently cursed the Dick and Artemis for getting her into this mess). By the time lunch rolled around, the group was on their way to the cafeteria when a loud 'BOOM' shook the halls. Once the smoke cleared, they saw Scarecrow, with canisters perched on his back and a twisted grin on his face (Well, they assumed he was grinning. You couldn't really tell when it came to Scarecrow) standing perched on top of a mountain of rubble further down the hall.

"Why is it that everyone evil shows up at lunchtime?" Artemis muttered, causing her friends to snicker (Babs was also informed of 'the Kitten incident').

"Because the police are clearly too busy eating doughnuts to stop them?" Dick suggested.

"Nerdlings of Gotham Academy!" Scarecrow boomed **(AN: I've never read the comics, so I'm not actually sure how scarecrow talks. Apologies if he's OOC) **"You're probably wondering why I'm here. Well, in order to complete my research, I need to know more than just the fears of adults. I need the fears of children and you adolescents too! So, I thought, why use the water supply or infect vaccinations? If I need you brats, why not go straight to a school, where I have hundreds of test subjects! The more I thought about it, the more egg-cellent the idea sounded. And so, I've but several canisters of my fear toxins in the air vents. With one push of a button, I can make them go off, and everyone in this school will be my test subject!"

As Scarecrow began laughing manically at the 'brilliance' of his own plan, the students were beginning to panic. Several tried to sneak away during his tirade, but were stopped by burly henchmen in gas masks. Dick and Artemis exchanged nervous looks before ducking into the next hall while Babs and Bette were lost in their own petrified minds.

"What are we going to do?" Artemis hissed, her worried, light grey eyes darting around the halls to make sure their conversation was not overheard. "I can get my uniform from my locker, but wouldn't it be suspicious if Artemis from Star City was suddenly saving a school in Gotham?"

"Yeah, and I can't get mine either, or it would be suspicious that Robin got here so fast, and people would wonder why Batman's not here yet. I do have an emergency distress caller in my bag, though. I can set it off, and the signal will go straight to the Batcave."

"But will he get here before Scarecrow releases fear toxin on the entire student body?"

"I don't know, but this is the only way we can help without the risk of blowing our cover."

The two exchanged another glance, this one filled with the same determination the two held when on a mission. They weighed all the possible outcomes of the situation in their heads before Scarecrow's yell of 'Time's up!' brought them back to reality. Artemis balled her hands into fists and swallowed bravely before glancing at the ward of Bruce Wayne.

"Do it."

Just as Dick (or Robin) managed to send out the distress signal, the disguised heroes heard a faint hiss coming from the air vents and held their breaths as long as they could, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

Gotham Academy erupted in screams of terror and anguish.

Thousands of miles away at Mount Justice, the rest of the Team was currently facing a different scenario, one that a certain speedster would claim was just as bad as the situation his two teammates faced, if not worse (if he was actually aware of their predicament, of course). And what _is _this situation you ask?

Combat training with Black Canary.

"Alright Team, we can't wait around for Artemis and Robin forever, so let's get started on combat training." Canary announced, causing a few Team members to groan in annoyance (Wally being the loudest). "Raven, since I haven't seen you or Beast Boy spar before, you'll go against each other. Aqualad against Superboy, super strength allowed, Miss Martian against Rocket, Zatanna against Kid Flash. When Robin and Artemis arrive they can spar against one another. Only Aqualad and Superboy are permitted to use powers, for everyone else, no powers or weapons allowed. Any questions?"

"How am I supposed to fight Rae? I can't hit a girl!" Gar exclaimed. Black Canary opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Raven.

"First of all, my name is Ra_ven_, not Rae. It's two syllables Gar, really not that hard. Second, what do mean you won't hit a girl?! There are plenty of girl super villains, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Cheshire… You are eventually going to face them. What do you plan to do, surrender and let them kill you?"

"Raven is correct Beast Boy. Justice is given out to anyone who commits a crime, regardless of gender, and you should be ready to deliver that justice. If that is all, go to the center of the room with your assigned partner and begin sparring." Black Canary added.

Each member of the Team faced their opponent at the center of the room, where the computer would announce the results of each match. The matches were fairly quick. Aqualad and Superboy were relatively evenly matched, but Kaldur eventually gained the upper hand; Rocket defeated M'gann easily, seeing as the Martian always opted to defend instead of attack; and Zatanna surprised Kid Flash by flipping behind him and sending a powerful kick to his back before he could react, which ended up with poor Wally sprawled on the floor as Zatanna laughed at him. The only people left to spar (other than Robin and Artemis, who obviously were still at Gotham Academy) were Raven and Beast Boy.

As soon as they began, it was obvious who had the upper hand. Raven faked a left before throwing a punch to Gar's right side. Unfortunately for her, this was not enough to make him hit the ground, which was needed in order for her to officially win the sparring match. The changeling aimed a kick at her left side, hoping to catch her off guard, but had little luck as Raven crouched down to avoid the kick, sweeping his legs underneath him with a powerful kick that made him lose his balance and fall over, causing Raven to achieve victory. The Team congratulated Raven and encouraged Garfield, but just before they could start another round of sparring matches, Batman's face appeared on the mission computer.

"Team, urgent Mission assignment at Gotham Academy. Code red."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Yeah, it's been almost two weeks… Sorry about that. Also, PLEASE REVIEW! It's the only way I'll know how to improve my writing. You don't even need an account to review! Finally, thanks to those who followed and viewed! **

Disclaimer: It is my dream to own Raven and Young Justice. But for now, it is only a dream…

Previously:

_The Team congratulated Raven and encouraged Garfield, but just before they could start another round of sparring matches, Batman's face appeared on the mission computer._

"_Team, urgent Mission assignment at Gotham Academy. Code red." _

Chapter 9: Rescue party and trauma

Upon hearing Batman's announcement, Raven swore she felt her heart stop.

"_Gotham Academy? But that's Artemis's school! Is that why he said code red? Is she okay? Is it the Joker? Was she shot?"_

Despite the negative thoughts whirling inside her brain like a tornado, Raven's facial expression remained rather neutral. It took the explosion of a can of tomato soup and several whispers of her mantra, but she managed to calm down her thoughts as well. Taking one deep, final breath, she turned to Batman's image on the screen and waited for her teammates to do the same.

"What is the nature of this emergency?" Kaldur asked, the firmness in his voice contrasting with the genuine concern in his eyes.

"Roughly twenty minutes ago, Scarecrow, one of Gotham's resident villains, broke into the school and used his hybrid fear gas on all the students and faculty. The gas causes one to hallucinate, bringing their worst fears and memories to life in front of their eyes. Your mission is to assist me with curing the victims. Go to the front of the school, where I will be waiting with vials containing enough of the antidote to cure the entire school as well as sedatives to prevent them from harming themselves. If you see Scarecrow, do NOT engage, contact me and I will arrive at your coordinates as soon as I can. It is vital to get the antidote to the victims as quickly as possible."

"Understood, we will zeta to the school immediately."

_Meanwhile…_

Artemis's throat was hoarse from all the screaming she'd been doing, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She'd just witnessed her sister abandoning her, her mother's paralysis, and the deaths of Raven, Jade, her mother and her old friend, Duncan Pierce, at the hands of her father. She felt as if her heart had been forcibly ripped out of her chest. Each time she'd tried desperately to stop Sportsmaster, and each time she found herself frozen, unable to lift a finger as the people she loved died a horrible, bloody death. As she heard her father's-no, that _monster's _dark chuckle, she knew it was not over. But what did she have left, when all the people she cared about ceased to exist?

Her eyes widened in shock and horror as the Team appeared a few yards away, demanding that Sportsmaster leave her alone. She tried to warn them, tried to tell them to leave while they still could, tried in vain to stop the only people she had left from dying just as the rest had. She refused to fail again, refused to lose everything she lived for.

Alas, she could not even part her lips.

She wanted so badly to look away, knowing what was to happen next, but she could not turn away, could not close her eyes, and worst of all, could not save them. All she could do was watch in horror as M'gann, the girl who was closer to her than her own sister, approached him first. She fought valiantly, even going so far as to yell that she would never let her sister perish (which made Artemis try even harder to free herself of this mysterious paralysis) but somehow, he had acquired a flamethrower and took aim. M'gann could not dodge the deadly blast, and was consumed by the fire almost immediately. Artemis had little time to grieve, however, as she watched Kaldur, the Team's leader and ultimate older brother, fight next. His fight was a brave one, his water bearers preventing the weapon's scorching flames from hitting him, until he made a mistake, and combusted just as the Martian had.

Rocket went next, even managing to disarm the criminal, his flamethrower sliding across the room giving Artemis a small spark of hope. Maybe this battle wouldn't turn out like all the ones before…

But Artemis's hope was short lived as Raquel was pinned to a wall by an exploding javelin, the eruption that followed ending her life.

By this point, Artemis was inwardly screaming, although no sound managed to escape past her lips. She willed for the remainder of the Team to give up, to retreat and leave her to die, but they would do no such thing. Superboy uttered a rage-filled yell, before charging directly into Sportsmaster, managing to knock him over. His hand was clenched into a fist, but before he could strike, Sportsmaster aimed his mace at the clone's head, the impact causing him to fall to the ground, unmoving. Artemis wished her eyes would allow her to shed tears on behalf of her fallen teammates, but it seemed the universe would not even allow her that.

Zatanna was next to attempt to bring down the criminal in the hockey mask, yelling several backwards words that caused him to stick to the ceiling. Instead of being deterred or surrendering, the man rained bombs from his new vantage point, one in particular landing less than a foot away from Zatanna, and even though Artemis couldn't see through the smoke, she could hear the magician's final, shuddering breath.

To Artemis's horror, Robin was the next to try and attack, aiming birdarangs at Sportsmaster in an effort to catch him off-guard. Sportsmaster dove out of the way, aiming his mace at the Boy Wonder. There was a sickening crack upon impact and Robin was flung into a wall, where he slid to the floor, his eyes meeting hers for the last time before the life faded from them. Artemis felt as if she'd been stabbed. She'd known Robin for less than a year, but somehow the prankster had wormed his way into Artemis's heart, morphing into the brother she'd never had. And now, he was gone forever…

Wally was the last one to challenge Sportsmaster, speeding around the room in strange patterns in an effort to confuse him. It worked for some time, and he'd even managed to somehow steal Sportsmaster's mace. Surprisingly, the speedster had managed to land a few good punches on him, making Artemis hope with all her heart that this time things would be different. Unfortunately, Sportsmaster managed to trip him, sending him crashing to the ground as he aimed an exploding javelin…

Artemis felt her entire world go up in smoke as the last person she cared about left her forever.

And just as before, the deed was done before Artemis managed to regain the ability to move.

"NO!" Artemis screamed with all her might. "WHY? Why would you do this? What have they ever done to you?" She attempted to lunge at him, to make him pay, but he grabbed her by her hair and looked her in the eye, his face twisting into a mocking sneer.

"Don't you see _baby girl_? It's your fault they're all gone. I always taught you emotions were for the weak, to trust no one and never to let anyone get too close. You didn't listen, and now look what happened. I wanted to make you suffer for turning your back on the family business, and what better way to do that then to make the ones you care about suffer too?"

"YOU'RE WRONG! This isn't my fault! It can't be! You're a monster!"

"A monster that would have never hurt them if they weren't close to you. Face it Artemis, you're a failure. You couldn't even save the people you care about. They wouldn't even NEED saving if it wasn't for you. Now that they've suffered, it's time to make you suffer too." He finished with a menacing gleam in his eye.

Suddenly, everything turned white and fuzzy, and she felt as if she was walking on air. Had he just killed her? Was this what death was like?

Her question was answered when her eyes snapped open to find none other than Wally West leaning over her, concern eminent in his emerald green eyes. Her first thought was that they were both dead, but this was quickly disregarded when she examined her surroundings and found herself in a corridor at Gotham Academy.

Everything hit her like a tidal wave from that point. Scarecrow, the gas in the vents, Dick-

"Wait, where's Dick? There was fear gas and-"

"He's fine; M'gann found the two of you and gave you both the antidote. For some reason, the antidote took longer to work on you, so M'gann told me to let her know when you woke up. I told them all over the mental link when I saw signs of consciousness, so they'll be here to check up on you after they've administered the antidote to all the remaining students."

Artemis breathed a sigh of relief. None of them were dead; it was all just a gas induced hallucination-nothing more than a figment of her imagination, a simple nightmare. Wally was standing right there, making sure she was okay, and she resisted the urge to hug him simply for being alive. This relaxed state only lasted for a few seconds before the voice of her father spoke to her, the words echoing through inside her skull…

'_They wouldn't even NEED saving if it wasn't for you.'_

She saw all her hallucinations play in front of her like a movie, and jumped away from the concerned speedster as if he was on fire, crawling away on her hands and knees until her back hit the lockers. She'd let people get too close, and they'd (almost) been killed. What if next time it happened for real? She couldn't let it; she had to stay away…

Pulling her knees up to her chest, her body trembled as she struggled not to cry. What if she really did get them all killed one day? She was a personal enemy of the Shadows, Sportsmaster, and Cheshire (actually, she wasn't entirely sure about her…) so it was possible that one day, they'd take revenge by going after her loved ones. What would she do then?

Wally wasn't sure what to do either. Artemis, the strongest girl he knew, was curled up in a ball, shaking and releasing a choked sob from time to time. He knew the scars of whatever she'd seen were going to take a very long time to heal, but he felt helpless just sitting there watching her try (and fail) to deal with it without any help. Sighing, he moved to sit next to her against the lockers, racking his brain for a way to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

"Artemis? I know you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now, but holding everything in won't help anything."

She clenched her fists, which were shaking with her bottled emotions, before screaming "EVERYONE DIED!"

She lifted her face from her lap, showing that while tears of grief and pain shone in her eyes, not even a drop of liquid had spilled on her face.

'_Figures she wouldn't cry. Artemis is by far the strongest girl to ever exist.'_

"What do you mean?" He asked aloud.

"Everyone I cared about died! And you know what? I was just standing there! I couldn't move! I couldn't scream! I couldn't even cry… And the worst part is, if it wasn't for me, they would have been fine!"

"Artemis, I'm sure there's nothing you could have done."

"You don't understand." She said, her voice shaking.

"Then enlighten me."

"Sportsmaster killed them because he hates me. Because he wanted to hurt me. And they were all just collateral damage…" She whispered.

Wally had never really understood why Sportsmaster (and Cheshire) seemed to target Artemis more than the rest of the Team, but figured it was a rivalry thing, kind of like the strange (and admittedly hilarious) situations he found himself in due to the Central City Rouges. Nevertheless, he replied with "But it didn't happen; they're all safe."

"It could have happened! Oh, and by the way, did I mention that you and the rest of the Team count as everyone?" She replied before burying her face in her lap again.

"Artemis, I'm right here, so is the rest of the Team. We don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon okay?" When she didn't reply, Wally sighed and reluctantly wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders, gaining more confidence as she didn't push him away, her desire to be comforted after the experience she'd just had overruling her pride.

Artemis was definitely traumatized, but she would heal in time.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Wow, Thank you all for your support! I need at least one review before I update again, but it might be awhile considering school is starting up. I'll try to update ASAP though! **

Disclaimer: I own Young Justice and Raven (NOT!)

Previously:

"_Artemis, I'm right here, so is the rest of the Team. We don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon okay?" When she didn't reply, Wally sighed and reluctantly wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders, gaining more confidence as she didn't push him away, her desire to be comforted after the experience she'd just had overruling her pride._

_Artemis was definitely traumatized, but she would heal in time._

Chapter 10: Emotions and Truth or Dare

Batman hadn't been sure what to do.

He knew about the fear gas (obviously). He also knew that his protégé would have nightmares-ones that would definitely revolve around the deaths of his parents. He was certain that if he was younger, the Boy Wonder would have sought him out for comfort, but now that he was older he believed he could handle his demons without any help. The nights where he woke up to his son's heavy breaths after one of these nightmares (Naturally, Batman was a very light sleeper) was proof of that. It wasn't healthy for the boy to simply brush off the trauma; he needed someone to comfort him for him overcome it. If he wouldn't come to him, he would (hopefully) come to his team.

And that was why all members of the Team had been forced to spend the night in Mount Justice.

At the moment, the Team were mentally preparing themselves for the night ahead. M'gann had been delighted when Batman had given the announcement, stating that she'd 'always wanted to have a slumber party'. Now, for the sake of keeping their Martian teammate happy, they were going to have to engage in pointless tasks such as watching old Disney movies and playing board games (where the Martian had found a game for 10 people they would never know). Both Raven and Artemis were sitting in Artemis's room, meditating. Artemis had learned this skill from her sister years ago, and found it rather helpful when dealing with stress. They sat peacefully, cross legged with their eyes closed, Artemis silent, Raven chanting her mantra softly. Both were oblivious to the outside world, and were instead in their own mindscapes…

Artemis appeared in front of a high, thick wall. In the distance, she could barely make out a rope bridge, which could lead her directly to Raven's mindscape (which she had deemed Nevermore) if she wanted to go there. Perched daintily on top of the wall were two slim figures, both with Artemis's long blonde hair and striking blue-grey eyes. In fact, they looked exactly like the archer, except instead of her black top one was clad in a forest green one, the other in a bubblegum pink that made Artemis cringe.

"HI ARTEMIS!" The pink-clad clone cheered, waving from her vantage point.

Artemis rolled her eyes and replied "Hello Happy, Hey Brave. Can we skip the small talk today?"

"Come on in. I'm warning you though, there's a pretty wild storm in there!"

"I know right? It's totally AWESOME!" Brave exclaimed.

Artemis ignored the two as they continued to chatter, instead focusing on the large wall. Waving her hand, she waited as a door exactly her height appeared in the center. She passed through without a second thought, having done this many times before.

Wading through the thick fog that surrounded her, she stopped at the clearing as she always did; leaving her standing at the top of a massive cliff that overlooked her inner mindscape. Just as Happy had foretold, a fierce storm was at its peak, with no sign of stopping. The wind whipped her hair to and fro as buckets of rain soaked her thoroughly. The waves below crashed into the cliff like a charging bull, tearing into the lower rocks with the force of a high-speed train. The sound of thunder tore through the air, the lightning that followed making the entire sky glow. Suddenly, the entire cliff shook violently, causing Artemis to fall to her knees. She had expected the hurricane-level storm, but the earthquake? The weather here signified her mood, and earthquakes stood for anger, she knew that. But what was the reason for her sudden frustration? The only way to know for sure was to speak to her local expert.

With that mission in mind, she focused her thoughts on creating a platform, directing it to where a specific emoticlone resided. Just as each emoticlone wore a different colored shirt, each permanent emoticlone had its own domain. Some were wide open, others sealed tight. And this one fell squarely in the latter.

Artemis looked upon the fortified steel door and the heavy chain and padlock, unfazed. This was her mind, so the door couldn't stop her from going _in_; only keep the emoticlone who resided here from getting _out_. At least, when Artemis didn't _want _it to.

Artemis went through the door as if it didn't exist, walking on the lava-filled cracks as if they were streams of lukewarm water. There was an inner door as well, with two fountains of lava on either side. This time, Artemis knocked on the door, three long knocks and two short ones.

"Enter." Commanded a voice from inside. It was smooth and calm, but held a warning tone underneath, as if daring the visitor to provoke her.

The inside of this domain was incredibly different to the outside. The entire, spacious room had a very lived-in feel to it. There was a small black shelf on the back wall, with a few books in it. To its right, a dartboard with Sportsmaster's face on it was nailed in, the picture impaled with three blood-red darts, as well as being covered with a plethora of tiny holes. The floor was carpeted in blood-red as well, and the walls painted jet black. There was no other furniture in the room, other than a black couch and a matching coffee table. A sleek, black flat-screened TV was mounted on the wall as well. Finally, sitting comfortably amongst the blood-red couch cushions, was an emoticlone in a black leather jacket and blood-red shirt that perfectly matched her eyes (she was the only emoticlone whose irises were a different color to the archer's).

"To what do I owe this surprise visit?" She asked in a bored tone.

"I want to know what I'm angry about. And that, Rage, is your department. The sooner you answer the question, the sooner I leave."

"Why not ask Miss-Know-It-All?"

"Knowledge would have some theories, but you're the actual emotion. That means only you can give me an answer that's 100% correct." Artemis replied smoothly.

"You're frustrated with yourself for not being able to save your loved ones in your hallucination. You're furious with your father for murdering them. You're angry with your loved ones for _dying_. But mostly, you're just plain irritated. Irritated with Scarecrow, with the fact that you care so much, with the Team for not finding you earlier, and most of all, with what that fake dad said. Deep down, you think he may be right, which enrages you even more because you've put them in danger just by caring about them. There, I gave you your information, now leave me in peace."

"Fine, I'm going. And I'll let you go to Knowledge's library later this week as a thank you."

Artemis's eyes snapped open as she found herself sitting on the bed in her room, glancing at Raven to see if she was done yet. To her chagrin, the dark sorceress was still whispering her mantra, dealing with her own emoticlones right now. With a deep exhale, she headed to the common room, bracing herself for a night she would probably never forget, no matter how much she wanted to.

The Team had just finished the board game, Robin being the winner (Wally had a theory that one of the requirements for being a Bat was to be ridiculously good at everything) and were now deciding which movie to watch. M'gann had stated that it had to be Disney. Artemis, Raven, and Raquel refused to watch a princess movie (Brave was excluded, but the boys claimed that it was 'an insult to masculinity'-which Rocket retorted was precisely the point). Robin had, for some reason, strictly forbidden the movie Lion King as well. Kaldur claimed that the concept of fish tanks was 'insensitive' so Finding Nemo was out too. Superboy just refused to watch a movie with monkeys in it. Zatanna didn't want to watch 'A Bug's Life' and Gar said that Peter Pan was out of the question. When asked why, he admitted that Captain Hook freaked him out. His confession happened to give Zatanna the perfect idea…

"Why don't we skip the movie and play a game?"

"What did you have in mind, Zatanna?" Kaldur asked.

'_Bingo' _Zatanna thought, pleased that a member of the Team had walked into her trap. Her smug smile morphed into a devilish (and very Robin-like) smirk that set the whole Team on edge.

"Truth or Dare"

**If you have an idea for a Truth question or Dare for a Team member, write it in a review! Remember, I need at least one review before I update!**

**-A.R.C.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thank you all sooo much for encouraging me with the follows favorites, views and reviews! I honestly never thought that this story would be so successful! I also got some HILARIOUS truths and dares, so if you sent me some in a review, they will probably be in this chapter (I won't actually say who sent me what, but I promise your requests will be here!). Sorry this chapter is so late; things have been a little hectic since my school started up again! Finally, I did decide not to use some of the truths, only because I felt like the Team would never answer them.**

Disclaimer: Think about it, if I owned the show, would I be writing fanfiction?

Previously:

"_What did you have in mind, Zatanna?" Kaldur asked._

'_Bingo' Zatanna thought, pleased that a member of the Team had walked into her trap. Her smug smile morphed into a devilish (and very Robin-like) smirk that set the whole Team on edge._

"_Truth or Dare"_

Chapter 11: The truth comes out and daring teammates.

They really wished they'd been more firm when they said no.

Artemis, Raven, Kaldur, Wally and Conner _knew _this was a bad idea, but the other half of the Team was determined to get them to play. Zatanna was sure it would be entertaining; Robin wanted to humiliate them all with dares; Garfield thought the truth questions would help him get to know his team better (and the dares _would_ be funny); M'gann had seen an episode of 'Hello Megan' with the game involved and was eager to try it herself; and Raquel was curious as to what happened when a bunch of super powered teenagers engaged in an already insane game. It took fifteen minutes of threats, blackmail, bribes, pleas, pestering, promises, conditions, and M'gann's puppy eyes, but they FINALLY succeeded.

The sane half of the Team was regretting this already.

Zatanna grinned in triumph as the Team sat in a circle, using her magic to produce a bottle for them to spin. The entire team watched it spin, each silently hoping they weren't the ones on the receiving end of the bottle…

It landed on Wally. And Zatanna.

"Truth or Dare, Wally?"

"Dare!" Wally exclaimed, not wanting to seem like a chicken.

"Hmmm, okay, I dare you to zeta to Mexico and 'acquire' a sombrero, which you have to wear for the rest of the game."

"Done!" Wally exclaimed, running to the zeta tubes. When he returned, a ridiculously oversized sombrero adorned his head, while his arms were full of tacos.

"Why did you get tacos?" Artemis asked, eyeing the Leaning Tower of Tacos (they were teetering dangerously in his arms) suspiciously.

"Who goes to Mexico and DOESN'T buy tacos?" Wally exclaimed, as if doing so would be a terrible crime.

"Can you even finish all of those?"

Wally scanned the tacos, before gingerly picking one taco off of the pile and handing it to Artemis. "NOW I can finish them all. Exactly 29 tacos!"

"I don't even want to know how you figured out exactly how many tacos you can eat." Raven deadpanned.

Wally ignored her and spun the bottle, watching as it landed on Raquel and Robin.

"Truth or Dare, bird boy?"

"Dare!" Robin yelled in triumph, he could handle any dare!

"Wear a chicken hat for the next 3 turns."

"Why a chicken hat?" Gar asked.

"Because chickens and Robins are both birds." Raquel stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fair enough. Evig Nibor a nekcihc tah!" **(Give Robin a chicken hat!) **Zatanna cried, causing a chicken hat to appear on Robin's head.

The Team laughed at the sight (Wally going as far as to take a picture) while Robin scowled, silently thinking up a revenge plan to use on Icon's protégé. Realizing that the longer he sulked, the longer he would be stuck in a chicken hat, Robin spun the accursed bottle, which landed on Conner and Artemis.

"Truth or Dare Conner?" Artemis asked, silently thanking the universe she had not been on the receiving end of the bottle yet.

"Dare." Conner said gruffly, despite the odd headgear his friends were now wearing.

"I dare you to prank call Superman." Artemis smirked.

Mentally cursing Artemis, the clone reluctantly took the cordless from Robin **(Yes, I'm giving the Team their own cordless.) **with Superman's number already dialed in, silently hoping the Kryptonian wouldn't pick up.

"Hello?" Well, so much for that wish.

"Hello, this is Metropolis Federal Bank. I would like to inform you that all your money has been withdrawn from your account, as you asked, and I've also informed you landlord of your moving the Siberia."

"WHAT?!"

Conner hung up before Superman could finish panicking.

Wordlessly spinning the bottle, he watched with curiosity as the bottle landed on Artemis and M'gann.

"Truth or Dare Artemis?"

"Truth." The archer responded, not wanting to risk the same fate as her teammates.

"What's your guilty pleasure show?"

Blushing slightly, Artemis muttered an inaudible answer while Raven and Conner smirked. Raven because she already knew, and Conner because he had heard her answer with his superhearing.

"What'd you say?" Wally asked.

"Foster's home for Imaginary Friends!" She yelled in exasperation.

While the others laughed, Artemis muttered profanities in any language she could think of, sulking all the while.

"Seriously though, why do you watch Foster's?" Robin asked.

Artemis sighed. "Well, growing up Raven was one of my only friends, and she lived pretty far away… So as you can imagine, I was pretty lonely. I guess I liked the idea of a friend you could custom design."

"That… makes sense. And anyways, we all have shows that we like to watch, despite being too old for them." M'gann said.

"Yeah, no need to be ashamed girl!" Raquel agreed.

Artemis smiled and spun the bottle, watching as it landed on Raven and Kaldur, Raven daring the Atlantean to speak like a pirate for the rest of the game. Kaldur then spun the bottle which landed on Wally… and Gar, who chose truth.

"When did you turn green?" Wally asked, his mouth still full of taco. "No offense dude, but last time we saw you, you had red hair and blue eyes."

"Well, it's kind of a long story." Gar said, as the Team listened intently. "It all started back in Africa…"


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Thank you for all the support! You guys are amazing! Anyways, on with the chapter!**

Disclaimer: I asked for the rights to Young Justice and Raven for my birthday, but DC and Cartoon Network said no.

Previously:

_Kaldur then spun the bottle which landed on Wally… and Gar, who chose truth._

"_When did you turn green?" Wally asked, his mouth still full of taco. "No offense dude, but last time we saw you, you had red hair and blue eyes." _

"_Well, it's kind of a long story." Gar said, as the Team listened intently. "It all started back in Africa…"_

Chapter 12: Garfield's past and the induction

Garfield closed his eyes as he tried to form the words, swallowing the lump in his throat as he watched the scene paint itself before him. "I was running around like crazy, chasing after a cool mongoose I'd seen. Somehow, I ended up chasing it deep into the jungle, which was close to our house, before I lost sight of it. I decided to give up and head back home, before realizing I had absolutely no idea which way I came from. I was completely lost."

_Flashback:_

"_Help! Anybody! Please, I'm lost out here!" Garfield yelled at the top of his lungs in desperation. He was running around frantically, waving his arms around and trying to find any signs that civilization was nearby, but to no avail. He had found a strange clearing with a single, thick, palm tree in it. Light filtered in from above, and a few bushes grew at the edges. The red-haired boy circled the tree, his head cocked to the side and his eyes filled with curiosity. Suddenly, he heard a low, threatening growl. He snapped his head upwards instantly, only for his eyes to lock with those of a large, angry, GREEN monkey. Its teeth were bared, its emerald fur stood on end, and it was watching the young boy with an intensity that could bore a hole through one's head. In short, this was NOT a happy primate. Not that Gar noticed that._

"_Hi Mr. Monkey!" He chirped innocently. "Do you know the way out of the jungle? I'm lost. Cool, you're green! That's my favorite color!" To the animal lover's delight, the grass green monkey abandoned its perch on the top of the tree, swinging down from one of the branches like a trapeze artist, and landing on the tree trunk. It then proceeded to climb even further down, and sit at the base of the tree, though its hostile demeanor did not vanish. If anything, it just seemed even more agitated._

"_Yay! You're going to help me!" Gar exclaimed brightly, offering an outstretched hand to the simian as a peace offering._

_This seemed to be the final straw for the unnerved animal. With a deafening shriek, it swung its arms around wildly and clamped its jaw firmly on the poor boy's arm. Gar cried out in pain, flinging his arm in the hope of dislodging the creature, but to no avail. After several failed attempts, he finally managed to rid himself of the vicious monkey by smashing its skull against the trunk of the tree with as much force as he could muster. With a final snarl, the simian scampered up the tree, his moss colored fur now making him resemble an ogre. _

_By now, Garfield's arm was bleeding uncontrollably. The evil ape had managed to tear right through his skin, exposing the muscle underneath. He was exhausted after his ordeal, and was now sweating profusely, suppressing a shiver when he though he saw the white of his bone when he moved his arm. Pain was shooting up his arm as if it was lightning, and he stumbled with every step. _

_By now, Gar had managed to make it back to the edge of the frightening forest, and could hear the heavenly voice of his mother calling out for him in frantic tones. Forcing his legs to keep moving despite his fatigue, he followed her voice like a bee to a flower. Smiling weakly when she came into view, her identical ruby-red hair glimmering in the fading sunlight, he managed to croak out a feeble 'Hi mom' before unconsciousness managed to wrap its arms around him._

_End of Flashback_

"Turns out, that monkey had a rare disease called Sakutia, which is why it was green. My mom was researching the disease, and managed to save my life using an untested medicine she'd been perfecting. Unfortunately, that means I ended up like this… Not that it's not cool, but I'd like to be able to look like my old self sometimes y'know?"

The rest of the Team stayed silent of a few seconds, staring at him with their eyes wide and their mouths agape. The silence was broken by M'gann who proceeded to crush him in a death hug, mutter apologies repeatedly (since she had no idea) and tell him that she loved him like a brother no matter what he looked like. The rest of the Team knew what it was like to have your life changed in an instant, and were quick to tell him so, with Conner giving the Statement of the Day.

"I HATE monkeys."

And that was that, the Team was closer, floodgates were opened, and the traumatizing truth or dare game had officially come to a close.

"Is it always like this?" Gar asked once he'd been released from his sister's strangling hug.

Kaldur gave him a warm smile "Welcome to the Team."

That was how Beast Boy was officially inducted into the Team, a strategic covert OPS team founded by the protégés of the Justice League.

And he wouldn't have had it any other way.


End file.
